Age, Growth and Body Condition of Big-Scale Sand Smelt Atherina Boyeri Risso, 1810 Inhabiting a Freshwater Environment: Lake Trasimeno (Italy)
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Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems (2015) 416, 09 http://www.kmae-journal.org c ONEMA, 2015 DOI: 10.1051/kmae/2015005 Age, growth and body condition of big-scale sand smelt Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 inhabiting a freshwater environment: Lake Trasimeno (Italy) M. Lorenzoni(1), D. Giannetto(2),,A.Carosi(1), R. Dolciami(3), L. Ghetti(4), L. Pompei(1) Received September 24, 2014 Revised January 29, 2015 Accepted January 29, 2015 ABSTRACT Key-words: The age, growth and body condition of the big-scale sand smelt (Athe- Population rina boyeri) population of Lake Trasimeno were investigated. In total, dynamics, 3998 specimens were collected during the study and five age classes Lee’s (from 0+ to 4+) were identified. From a subsample of 1017 specimens, phenomenon, there were 583 females, 411 males and 23 juveniles. The equations = − fishery between total length (TL) and weight (W) were: log10 W 2.326 + = − management, 3.139 log10 TL for males and log10 W 2.366 + 3.168 log10 TL for fe- introduced males. There were highly significant differences between the sexes and species, for both sexes the value of b (slope of the log (TL-W regression) was Lake Trasimeno greater than 3 (3.139 for males and 3.168 for females), indicating positive allometric growth. The parameters of the theoretical growth curve were: −1 TLt = 10.03 cm; k = 0.18 yr , t0 = −0.443 yr and Φ = 1.65. Monthly trends of overall condition and the gonadosomatic index (GSI) indicated that the reproductive period occurred from March to September. Analy- sis of back-calculated lengths indicated the occurrence of a reverse Lee’s phenomenon. This could be a symptom of predation or competition, with consequences for young specimens with slower growth and smaller size. RÉSUMÉ Âge, croissance et condition physique des athérines Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 d’un milieu d’eau douce : le lac Trasimène (Italie) Mots-clés : L’âge, la croissance et la condition physiquedelapopulationd’athérine(Athe- dynamique rina boyeri) du lac Trasimène ont été étudiés. Au total, 3998 échantillons ont été de population, prélevés au cours de l’étude et cinq classes d’âge (de 0+ à 4+) ont été iden- phénomène tifiées. D’un sous-échantillon de 1017 spécimens le sexe a été déterminé, soit de Lee, 583 femelles, 411 mâles et 23 juvéniles. Les équations entre la longueur totale = − gestion ((TL)etlepoids(W)sont:log10 W 2,326 + 3,139 log10 TL pour les mâles et log W = −2,366 + 3,168 log TL pour les femelles. Il y a une différence très de la pêche, 10 10 significative entre les sexes et pour les deux sexes la valeur de b (pente de la régression) est supérieure à 3 (3,139 pour les mâles et 3,168 pour les femelles), (1) Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università di Perugia, via Elce di Sotto, 06123 Perugia, Italy (2) Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mug˘ la Sitki Koçman University, 48000 Mug˘ la, Turkey (3) Provincia di Perugia, Centro Ittiogenico del Trasimeno, Via della Palazzetta, 06063 S. Arcangelo, Italy (4) Regione dell’Umbria, Sezione Tutela del Patrimonio Ittico e Pesca Sportiva, Piazza del Bacio, 06123 Perugia, Italy Corresponding author: [email protected] Article published by EDP Sciences M. Lorenzoni et al.: Knowl. Manag. Aquat. Ecosyst. (2015) 416, 09 espèce ce qui indique une croissance allométrique positive. Les paramètres de la courbe −1 introduite, de croissance théorique sont : TLt = 10,03 cm ; k = 0,18 yr , t0 = −0,443 yr et Φ = lac Trasimène 1,65. Les tendances mensuelles de l’état général et de l’indice gonado-somatique (GSI) indiquent que la période de reproduction a eu lieu de mars à septembre. L’analyse des longueurs rétro-calculées indique la présence d’un phénomène de Lee inversé. Ce pourrait être un symptôme de la prédation ou de la concurrence ayant des conséquences sur les jeunes spécimens à croissance plus lente et de plus petite taille. INTRODUCTION The big-scale sand smelt, Atherina boyeri Risso 1810, is a small inshore species common in the Mediterranean (along the Mediterranean coasts, and Black, Azov and Caspian Sea basins) and in the north-east Atlantic (from the Azores to the north-west coast of Scotland) (Quignard and Pras, 1986; Whitehead et al., 1986;Biancoet al., 2013). This species mainly inhabits coastal and estuarine waters and lagoons, over a wide range of salinities (from freshwater to hypersaline) and, more rarely, freshwaters (Freyhof and Kottelat, 2008). A few permanent freshwater resident populations have also been reported from Santo André lagoon (Iberian Peninsula) and Trichonis Lake (Greece) (Freyhof and Kottelat, 2008). Moreover, this euryhaline species was successfully introduced into many lakes for stock enhancement purposes or due to accidental transfer (Economidis et al., 2000;Leonardos,2001;Biancoet al., 2013). In Italy, the species is native but its original range has been expanded by introductions in many lakes (Bianco et al., 2013). In Lake Trasimeno the big-scale sand smelt was introduced, probably accidentally, in 1920 (Moretti et al., 1959) together with juveniles of other species of commercial interest. Since 1928, when the species started to be caught by commercial fishermen (Moretti et al., 1959), the big-scale sand smelt gained increasing commercial value. Almost irrelevant in the total catch until 1980 (Mearelli et al., 1990), in the following years the big-scale sand smelt has become a primary source for commercial catches of local fishermen, representing 29% of the total catch in 1995−2004 (Lorenzoni and Ghetti, 2012). Nowadays, the big-scale sand smelt is the dominant species in the fish community of Lake Trasimeno, where it represents more than 50% of the total catch (Pompei et al., 2012a)andthemain source of fishing revenues. Although several studies on the age and growth of big-scale sand smelt have been reported in the literature, only a few have focused on populations inhabiting lakes (Mantilacci et al., 1990;Leonardos,2001,Özeren,2009). The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the age, growth and body condition of the big-scale sand smelt in Lake Trasimeno. MATERIALS AND METHODS Lake Trasimeno is located within the Tiber River basin in Central Italy (Figure 1)(43◦911 N and 12◦15 E). It is the fourth largest lake in Italy (124.3 km2) and the largest Italian laminar lake due to its shallowness (average depth: 4.72 m; max. depth: 6.3 m) (Mearelli et al., 1990). Lake Trasimeno is listed as a Site of Community Interest (SCI) and Special Protection Area (SPA) within the Natura 2000 European network and it was assessed as a Regional Park. The lake is characterised by a Mediterranean climate and its seasonal level is quite variable (in 2012 from −92 cm to −154 cm during summer relative to the reference level) because water is supplied by short intermittent streams that tend to dry up during the summer season (Pompei et al., 2012b). The water temperature is almost the same as the air temperature, and in summer it can exceed 30 ◦C; thermal stratification is usually absent (Lorenzoni et al., 2002b). Lake Trasimeno is classified as meso-eutrophic (Mearelli et al., 1981;Giovanardiet al., 1995). 09p2 M. Lorenzoni et al.: Knowl. Manag. Aquat. Ecosyst. (2015) 416, 09 Figure 1 Map of Italy showing the localization of the study area Trasimeno lake (blue dot). With regard to fish fauna, the introduction of exotic species together with the fluctuating hydrological regime of the lake and the impact of fisheries have probably contributed to se- vere alteration of the native fish community (Mearelli et al., 1990;Lorenzoniet al., 2006). Currently, this comprises 19 species, only five of which are native: pike Esox lucius Lin- naeus, 1758; cavedano chub Squalus squalius (Bonaparte, 1837); tench Tinca tinca (Linnaeus, 1758); rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) and eel Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758). Among the introduced species, together with some fishes of commercial interest (i.e. European perch Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 and largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides Lacepede, 1802) other species including goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) and top- mouth gudgeon Pseudorabora parva (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846) are invasive and con- sidered dangerous for the lake’s ecosystem (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). In fact, the latter species are among the world’s most invasive fish and assessed as potential pests (Froese and Pauly, 2012). Specifically, topmouth gudgeon, which was first recorded in the lake in the late ’90s, can now be considered acclimated and increasing in abundance (Lorenzoni et al., 2010). The goldfish is currently the most caught cyprinid species in the lake and its introduction has probably led to the decline of the native tench population (Lorenzoni and Ghetti, 2012). Early maturity, ability to reproduce by gynogenesis, high fecundity and absence of preda- tors in Lake Trasimeno are the main characteristics thought to have determined its success (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). > COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS Specimens of big-scale sand smelt were randomly taken from professional fishermen’s catches twice a month from January 2012 to January 2013. Samples were collected by means of fyke nets, cat nets and gill nets (mesh sizes 5, 6.25 and 8 mm) placed in different locations across the lake. For all specimens, total length (TL) and standard length (SL) were measured to the nearest 0.1 cm, and weight to the nearest 0.1 g (Anderson and Neumann, 1996)andasampleof 09p3 M. Lorenzoni et al.: Knowl. Manag. Aquat. Ecosyst. (2015) 416, 09 scales was collected from each specimen for age determination. All scales were stored in ethanol (33%) and later observed under a stereo microscope using the image-analysis sys- tem IAS 2000. Age was determined by the scalimetric method (Bagenal, 1978) and further validated through analysis of the length-frequency distribution (Britton et al., 2004).